Falls advances to semis on Wolfram’s gem
GRAND CHUTE – If the season’s on the line in a win-or-go home environment and your starting pitcher gives you more runs on one hit than your opponent’s entire offense had provided up up to that point, there’s a good chance you’re going to advance.
Menomonee Falls ace Zach Wolfram threw six shutout innings and gave up just four hits to No. 4-seeded Westosha Central in the first of four WIAA Division 1 state baseball quarterfinal matchups. He also ripped a line drive into the gap in right center in the top of the sixth inning to drive home two runs during a 6-1 victory at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
“When Zach’s rolling on the mound … we mostly played great defense, especially in the infield, and when you bury that first out so many times, it can carry over and really put the pressure on. I love what we did offensively today, and finally, the dam broke. Zach rips a double to make it 3-0, and we just kept adding on and adding on,” Falls head coach Tim Gotzler said. “Every time you add on in an elimination game, it really sends a lot more pressure to the other dugout.”
Falls struck first in the third inning when Jack Anderson laced an RBI single to score leadoff man Keli Grennier. The Phoenix got another run-scoring single off the bat of Caden Wilson after Wolfram’s two-run double to score courtesy runner Mason Corazzari.
Wolfram kept the Central bats quiet again in the bottom half and allowed just two runners to reach second base in the outing. Falls got two-run double in the top half of the seventh inning from Derek Steinbrenner, who a couple of innings earlier had taken a fastball to the left cheek and stayed in the game.
Falls advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive season to play No. 8 Bay Port on Tuesday night. Bay Port upset top-seeded Sun Prairie in the second quarterfinal, 4-2.
Greendale completes wild comeback
Greendale head coach Brian Johnsen labeled the Panthers’ 6-4, eight-inning victory over second-seeded Eau Claire North simply as history.
The Panthers, making their first appearance in the state spring baseball tournament, trailed 4-1 through six innings and then used four singles and three Huskies errors to tie the game, followed by a pair of runs in the eighth. Greendale advanced to play the winner of No. 3 Arrowhead and No. 6 Milton.
“We had a lot of opportunities early on and we didn’t convert,” Johnsen said. “But once we got the leadoff single from Jack (Bauer) and then a bunt from Tristan (Ellis) ... those are our two guys, man. Those are our two guys that start everything and we were right there the whole way. This team’s got a lot of guts.”